The atmospher of La Belle Epoque captured in a mystery. The action takes place in the shadow of the newly constructed Eiffel Tower - literally. An easy and amusing read with plenty of Parisian atmosphere and twirled moustaches. Rather like a Feydeau farce but with bodies at every turn. Not great literature, and a rather feeble confession to tie up the loose ends at the end, nevertheless I enjoyed it immensely. My only criticism was there were so many characters, and each with a difficult to remember French name; so that I was sometimes confused as to whom was being discussed. ( )

As a fan of books about books I was so looking forward to reading this. Sadly, I was disappointed by it. I found the wrting style tedious and plodding and admit to having skimmed through half of the book to find out how it ended. I almost wish I hadn't bothered.I won't be reading any more in this series. ( )

If you are a fan of historical thrillers, this is for you. A murder mystery set during the World's Fair in Paris and the unveiling of the Eiffel Tower, this story takes the reader through late 19th century Paris when technology is booming. ( )

The Eiffel Tower has just opened and thousands of Parisians and other tourists are crowding the upper level to get a glimpse of Paris and sign "The Golden Book" to become a part of history. One visitor is Eugenie Patinot and her niece and two nephews. Eugenie is hot, tired, and agitated, but she feels she must earn her keep while living with her sister by taking care of the children for the day. While resting on a bench she suddenly feels a sting on her neck. She falls to the ground and, within minutes, she is dead.

So begins 'Murder on the Eiffel Tower". The historical aspects of the novel ring true, however, as a 'whodunnit', it fails on a couple of levels. For instance, within the first 16 pages we are introduced to no less than 14 different characters, five of whom work at a newspaper whose editor is trying to entice Victor Legris into writing for them. That many characters is confusing, especially since they all return at different points in the book as suspects and/or witnesses. And if that wasn't enough, we are introduced to at least a dozen or so more who just manage to muddy up the story, provoke Victor's raging jealousy, and/or end up dead.

Victor Legris, a bookseller and amateur writer and sleuth, begins to see a pattern in the "bee sting" deaths of Euguenie and others, but can't put all the pieces together. Perhaps he is too busy trying to figure out how to get Tasha, a member of the newspaper staff, into bed. He makes himself ill chasing down one "clue" after another, but none of them make sense. It's not until the middle of the book that we begin to discover what these clues are and who they pertain to, but by this time there is so much else going on that it may not matter.

The motive for the murders is explained in a posthumous confession, but it seems to be mostly feeble and senseless. The characters are barely on the verge of being interesting themselves. What really shines here is the city of Paris itself. The "author" (really two sisters who own a bookshop and are 'experts' on 19th century Paris) do a wonderful job of describing the times and cityscape. The translator has also done a wonderful job because it is a very easy read and not the usual stilted language often found in translations. Too bad the crime, perpetrator, suspects, and sleuths don't rise to the same level. ( )

This was a quite charming historical mystery novel. At times the prose was wandering, but always delivered delightful observations about Paris just prior to the turn of the century. ( )